UK Sites

Testing your assumptions

By Skean Dhude

In my real life role I work in IT. I’ve worked for several companies on several different projects including Disaster Recovery and Contingency Planning and one of the most consistent risks was that very few of them have ever tested their contingency plans and tested them as if it was a real disaster. They can spend hundreds of man hours writing these plans and testing them on paper but nothing beats a real live test which shows some simple and fundamental errors. I had one instance on a government site where they had full marks for the DR plans, all the boxes ticked you see, and when I eventually talked them into testing it over a bank holiday we fell over on the first hurdle because the security guards would only let authorised personnel access the classified backup tapes and they were all off outside normal working hours. The plan had the simple milestone of ‘Back up tapes will be delivered from offsite. Ring XXXX to arrange delivery.’ As you can imagine that went down well and it isn’t unusual most backup plans fall over when tested for the first time on silly things. I have several more examples but you get the picture.

Plans usually fail on assumptions that you make about something. You assume that someone has all the passports, you know you need them but leave it to someone else. You assume that the car won’t break down. You assume that the shop around the corner has milk and that you have the eye of a SAS Sniper when it comes to hunting food. You may be right but when you can’t get someone to bring the passports or the milk or the RAC to pick you up or you cannot simply return empty handed with food and just have a pizza you need to be 100% that you have done everything you can.

The first thing you should do before you switch off the power is to run your plan through while you go about your daily business of living. Time for tea you would get your food from your stores. Check what you need for that meal and make sure it is all there in your stores. Do not assume anything. Check before you turn on the cooker that your survival gear contains a cooker and all you need to run it, fuel, etc. Then when you have cooked the meal what in your survival gear do you have to serve and eat it with? When you are finished how are you going to wash up? Is everything you need there? Time for the toilet how will you handle this? Everything you need in your kit. What about the cigarette you have after tea? Then start thinking about hunting for food. What have you got to hunt with? Is it a PCP and you only have the air in the weapon? Run everything through in your mind and on paper for a few days and physically check the stores. If you have paper tested everything without any issues and are confident you are ready then now is the time for a real test.

Now to actually testing out your survival plans. I think we can agree that it is folly to wait until there is an event to find out that you are missing critical items or that you have not really thought your plans through. Luckily for us we can test our plans very easily. Here are some suggested preparedness tests. Taking the first Test, the weekend challenge, as a starter we simply think of a duration. I suggest a weekend when nobody is working as an initial test. Simply stop using the infrastructure in place in your home, switch off the gas, water and power and live for a few days on what you have put aside. If you are looking at relocating to a retreat then go there and do the same. Just flick the switches and turn the stopcocks to start. Once that is done sort your stores out and set up your equipment. Leave your cars and phones switched off and out of the way. Include your games consoles and computers unless you have a power supply you can use which is not reliant on the main grid. It would be best if you all participate but kids are not always going to that appreciative of missing their friends and it is unfair. You can always pretend they are there and adjust accordingly. After all there is not that much difference if the kids are missing, in fact think of the peace you can have. That alone must be worth it. Farm them out to relatives or they can have a camping out party at their friends. That is miles better than a camping out party with parents.

However, if only it is as easy as that to really test your plans. For one thing it is not TEOTWAWKI and the others will want to be out enjoying themselves even if you can get them to participate and importantly we have to remember that it is only a test and need to be sensible about it. Let us not bring out the AK47 from our illegal stash and start shooting the lairds deer and pheasants for lunch. We cannot pull our stairs down to make it difficult for intruders and that microwave defence system you are working on will have to wait a bit longer before you can really test it on intruders. Be particularly careful when you have your stores buried or sealed inside something to keep your stash safe. You do not want to compromise your stores and you should use substitutes that you know is in your stash to pretend you are working from there. You do have a list of what is in your stash? Of course you do.

So using the stores in your stash and you, and your companions, will only use what you have in your stores and nothing else. Identify items that are missing and note if you have problems with anything at all. You will use these notes to refine your plans. Only if the problem is a show stopper should you fix the issue by, for example, getting a friend to deliver that item to you at a prearranged spot and leave without even meeting. This would need arranging before hand and I would suggest text messages rather than phone calls so you don’t compromise the test. Set up everything in your stash you would be using at any time. Look ahead, you may have food and water for two years but test beyond that; Till the land, a bit of it anyway, and pretend to sow the seeds and the plants, actually go hunting for your food, process your water, wash with what you have, use the toilet facilities you have planned. Make sure you try, or where you can’t then at least pretend to try by acting it out, for example a twisted ankle or broken wrist, everything you have prepared for.

After a few days you should detect that;

You have a list of minor issues

You are bored senseless

You wish you had some more luxury items in your stores

You do not want to do this for much longer

If you are not learning anything new and it gets into a stressful routine then stop and consider what was wrong otherwise stop when you reach your target.

When you have completed your test;

Switch on the utilities

Have a nice relaxing bath (Rock/Paper/Scissors for priority if you want to be fair otherwise dictate)

Have a nice meal

Add any changes to your plans and/or stores list

Replace the items you have consumed or used and add any new ones

Let everyone else know what happened so we can learn from it

The last one is important. Here in the UK few of us have actually been through any sort of infrastructure collapse. We are reliant on others talking about their experiences and as each situation is different then you need to test the plan for your situation and don’t just assume it is going to be OK because it works for someone else. Ray Mears contingency plan could be to take his big knife and head out to the wilds of Scotland. If we did that 99.9% of us would be dead in a month, including me. That is why I have my own plans.

I am of the belief that mindset is more important than anything else. However every useful item you have in your equipment and stores improves your chances considerable. The key word there is useful and you only really discover what are actually the useful items when you are in the situation using them. We want to know before we get there so we have to test it by living it to check. We will not assume we will verify and confirm. Everything.

Remember, never assume. It makes an ASS out of U and ME and in our world it can be fatal.

Let us know how you get on and if you want any help to prepare then just ask.

Here’s a “test on paper” question I have in regards to cooking in an emergency. There’s a lot of things that I keep/use on a daily basis (eat what you store and store what you eat) that require cooking in the oven. The cooking equipment I have is a trangia and a portable gas stove – both of which are for hob style cooking, boiling, frying etc. How would one substitute using an oven in an emergency situation? I’m thinking of making flapjacks or baking bread, long term survival using all available foodstuffs etc… So the question is how do I substitute an oven?

Most people look at using a barbacue or building a dutch oven as a replacement using wood as a fuel rather than gas. Many people are turning to wood ovens in their homes now and the sales for wood oven are up atm. A guy down the road has just had one fitted and he is not a prepper in any way. I suspect he gets wood cut offs from his work and seen an opportunity to reduce his payout to the state.

I went to a national trust place recently where they were teaching people bushcraft skills and I tried using a flint o steel with cotton wool. It was really cool to do and suprisingly easy but I really should have tried with tree bark also because that looked more difficult. They had made a clay oven (dutch oven?) but that sort of thing would be rather tricky to do unless one is trained. I like the BBQ idea because it would create (when lid closed) an oven type envirnment I suppose.

What’s your view on cooking outside and avoiding attracting those looters? Is it at all possible to cook indoors?

It is possible to cook inside but not recommended if there are looters around. I can smell food cooking four hundred yards away and if you are starving probably that extends to a mile on the wrong wind. Try it one night in the summer when you are out and about.

Anyone turns up at your house for any reason expecting to see you chewing the bone off your pet gerbil will smell it straight away and your OPSEC will be blown. Best making do with simple cold meals until the threat has gone.

If however you live far enough away not to worry about that then make a Dutch oven and cook away. Warm meals are always better for you and will help keep you healthy and improve your morale.

A really good alternative to an oven is a COBB. It acts like an oven and cooks with only a small amount of charcoal . I have now tested our COBB extensively and after some practice have cooked all types of meat, bread etc. they can be picked up by hand without protection when hot and come with a range of accessories. Well worth buying for camping and general fun as they really cook the food deliciously.

I reside in south florida, US and have been through a number of storms. worst was we had no power for 3 weeks. we have no gas service, so house was dead except we still had clean city water. could still take could shower and use the toilet thankfully.

i think the things i missed the most were lights and the clothes washer. in all my preps i never thought about washing my clothes.

BTW: i tried a camping shower when i couldnt take the cold showers any longer. its basically a black bag with a hose, hang in the sun and warms the water. was very disappointed. water was warm enough but not enough of it to rinse off. so we got a galvanized steel tub at a farm supply store. can use it for bathing and washing clothes. IMHO most people wont know what to do if the water/sewage system stops working. this has GOT to be part of one’s plan.

very good advice you gave about looking at what one uses now – and have it on hand.

My advice is that if you’re “buggin in”, one of the first things to collect is water in the house. Fill the bath tub and
sinks and anything else that will,hold water. A water butt catching rain water from a roof is a good way of collecting “gray” water for washing and toilets. At a pinch it can be boiled and drunk. When the s@#t hits, you’ll have more to worry about than hygiene! I’ve always found that hand washing is better than a machine anyway and at least you won’t need to do the ironing!

A water butt collects debris from the roof as well, bird poo, insects, etc. Even if the container itself is clean, and most won’t be, the water lands on the roof and flows through guttering into the butt taking whatever is on the roof with it.

HI,
I MENTIONED A FEW MONTH’S AGO ABOUT TESTING YOUR RESOLVE, NOT TO ALL OUT GO FROM “SUNNY DAY”
DIET TO W.T.S.H.T.F. DIET BECAUSE YOU WILL FAIL.
IF YOU DON’T TRY BEFORE IT DOES GO TITS UP YOU WILL MORE OFTEN THAN NOT REVERT TO YOUR PRE S.H.T.F. DIET BECAUSE THATS WHAT YOU ARE USED TO, SO STARTING OFF FOR JUST A DAY & THEN GOING ON FROM THERE.
MASTER EACH ASPECT OF WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE THROUGH WHEN WE ARE IN “THE ZONE”, FROM FOOD PREP & EATING, TO WASHING, PERSONAL HYGIENE & CLOTHES CLEANING.
TO BEGIN WITH IT IS HARD TO ACHIEVE BECAUSE IT’S EASY TO SAY “BLOW IT, I’M HAVING A PIZZA & A CHILLED GLASS OF WINE”.
BUT FIGHT THOUGH THAT, EVENTUALLY YOU WILL BE ABLE TO GO A WEEK, A MONTH, 3 MONTHS & INDEFINITELY, BUT DETERMINATION IS THE KEY, A SINGLE MINDED ATTITUDE THAT PUSHES YOU FORWARD.
I’M ABLE TO GO ON FOR THREE MONTHS & BEYOND IF I CHOSE TO, THIS IS ACHIEVABLE BY ANYONE, IT’S TAKEN ME APROX 3 YEAR’S TO GET TO THIS STAGE, WITH SOME OF YOU IT WILL TAKE A LOT LESS.
THINGS WILL BEGIN TO OCCUR TO YOU THAT WILL MAKE THINGS EASIER.
ONE INSTANCE, IN MY CASE, I WAS HAVING A WASH USING WET WIPES, PRETTY BASIC, THINKING A HOT SHOWER WOULD BE LOVELY, BUT WAY OUT OF MY REACH – THEN IT CAME TO ME, I HAD A HAND PUMP PRESSURE WASHER, A SHOWER HEAD, & A SILVER TEMP TENT FROM THE POUND SHOP.
SO I EXPERIMENTED A FEW TIMES & CAME UP WITH THIS, 1 LTR OF BOILED WATER, ADD TO THAT 1 DS OF SHAMPOO OR LIQUID SOAP, POUR INTO THE PRESSURE WASHER, PUMP IT APROX 30 TIMES, HOOK UP THE HEAD & YOU’VE GOT A 3 – 4 MINUTE HOT SHOWER. THE TENT CAN BE SUSPENDED AROUND THE TOP & GATHERED AT THE BOTTOM, THE WATER COLLECTED CAN BE REBOILED & USED TO DO YOUR WASHING.
A SIMPLE REALIZATION, BUT THE EFFECT WAS AMAZING & A GREAT MORAL BOOSTER, A HOT SHOWER AT THE END OF EACH WEEK, MMMM LOVELY.
I AM ABLE TO COMFORTABLY SURVIVE ON 2 LTRS A DAY FOR COOKING & DRINKING, YOUR REQUIREMENTS MAY VARY, EACH TO HIS/HER OWN.
FOR A WEEK IN “THE ZONE” I’D BUY A CRATE OF 8 X 2 LTR BOTTLES OF BASIC TABLE WATER FROM SAINSBURYS FOR 1.36. 2 LTRS A DAY WITH A 2 LTR BOTTLE FOR THE END OF THE WEEK FOR A SHOWER & ANY UNEXPECTED OCCURRENCE, POSSIBLY WATER FOR CUTS, WOUND CLEANING FOR EXAMPLE.
AS MENTIONED, IT IS HARD – TO BEGIN WITH – BUT AS YOU GET MORE INTO IT ITS FUN & A GREAT SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT WILL BRING YOU BACK FOR MORE.
BUT TO EMPHASIZE, START OFF SLOW & MASTER ALL THE SKILLS BEFORE MOVING ON, THERE IS NOTHING LIKE IT, GO AT YOUR OWN PACE, ENJOY YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS BECAUSE ONE DAY IT MAY BE THE REAL THING. FARE YOU WELL ALL WHO TRY & COME BACK FOR MORE.

I FOUND THE SMELL THING TO BE A PROBLEM TOO, I’VE OFTEN CONSIDERED IT WITH NO SOLUTIONS.
BUT I HAVE BEEN PUTTING TOGETHER AN IDEA INVOLVING A SMALL VACUUM CLEANER & A CHEAP PETROL GENERATOR, WHERE THE ODOURS ARE SUCKED UP, THROUGH THE CLEANER INTO A RECESS IN THE GROUND WHERE THE BACKEND OF THE CLEANER WOULD BE.(THIS WOULD BE CARRIED OUT IN A BUNKER SITUATION AS THE NOISE OF THE CLEANER ABOVE GROUND WOULD BRING IT’S OWN PROBLEMS).
AS A SIDE ISSUE THE VACUUM HOSE COULD BE FED UP THROUGH THE ROOF OF YOUR BUNKER TO JUST BELOW THE GROUND SURFACE & AIR SUCKED DOWN TO REPLACE STALE AIR IN THE BUNKER, SORTA LIKE A POOR MANS FILTRATION SOLUTION, FOR JUST 15 MINUTES A DAY – WHAT WITH THAT & THE TIME IT TAKES TO COOK A QUICK MEAL, THAT’S 45 MINUTES A DAY, SO A ROUGH CALCULATION, A FULL TANK OF 15 LTRS LASTS APROX 10+ HOURS( SMALL 2 STROKE GENERATOR)IF YOU LIMIT USE TO THOSE 2 TASKS ONLY & THAT’S OVER A 13 DAY PERIOD, SO FOR A YEAR YOU COULD OPERATE THIS SYSTEM WITH APROX 84 GALLONS A YEAR, THAT MAY SOUND A LOT, BUT TO DO IT THE CONVENTIONAL WAY WOULD COST 1,000’S, THIS WAY @ 6.00. A GALLON THAT’S 500.00. & A FEW PENNIES A YEAR – NOT A LOT FOR CLEAN AIR, WORRY FREE COOKING & PEACE OF MIND.
OF COARSE A GOOD HAND PUMP USING THE SAME BASIC PRINCIPLES WOULD WORK JUST AS WELL, IT WOULD BE A LOT CHEAPER,BUT TAKE A HELL OF A LOT MORE ELBOW GREASE.
EACH WILL ADAPT & MAKE IT FIT THERE OWN CIRCUMSTANCES, FARE YOU WELL AS YOU PREP FOR “THE ONCOMING STORM”.

Food cooking is always going to present risk. As like above, looters,etc will be on the look-out for a free meal. If they find that, they have the potential of taking everything. You may be a blackbelt 36 dan but a group of hungry desperate people WILL overcome you!
As in the forces, you must prepare for cold rations for some time. I went 2 weeks on an army exersize. You get used to it.
It’s a mindset. You need to stop dreaming about the 72oz steak you could polish off and see your food you do have as “fuel” or a way to just stop feeling hungry. That’s why the army provide “MRE’s” that can be eaten both hot and cold.
My advice is that if you are in doubt over to cook or not to cook, then don’t cook!
Prepare your BOB with the immediate food you can eat “on the hoof” Cooking food is usually a luxury you can ill- afford or risk. Hot food / drinks are a morale booster, that goes without saying, been there myself but it’s not immediately essential.
Many thanks

P.S
You don’t need to buy MRE’s
You probably already have a cupboard full already.
Take a look on the side of a 20p can of beans. You’ll be suprised by the content.
Mix it up with an all day breakfast in a can etc.
I also carry multi- vitamins in my BOB to compensate for the bad eatin’
This is all short-term stuff as you’d need to plan for a more sustainable diet for longer-term situations.

I AGREE, COLD FOOD IS STILL FOOD & THERE ARE SO MANY OPTIONS OUT THERE FOR A PASSABLE DIET, AT LEAST UNTIL THE MAIN BODY OF RISK HAS DIED DOWN.
PLUS IF YOU GO FOR THE BASIC RANGE IT WILL NOT COST A FORTUNE, TO NAME A FEW, YOU GOT BOILED POTATOES, MINCED BEEF & ONION, PROCESSED PEAS, CARROTS, SWEETCORN,HAM, TUNA & OTHER FISH, MEAT PASTE IN THOSE LIL JAR’S IF YOU CAN MAKE A HOT DRINK YOU CAN DO NOODLES, POWDERED MASH, STOCK CUBES AS A SOUP, IT JUST GOES ON, & THE REASON WHY I’VE MENTIONED SOME OF THESE THINGS IS BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE HAVE AN IDEA ABOUT SOMETHING & IT DOES’ANT OCCUR THAT THERE IS ANOTHER WAY.
BEANS, LEIGH IS RIGHT, ONCE YOU START ON A DIFFERENT COARSE THE OPTIONS OPEN UP.
ALSO TO REMEMBER, IF YOU ARE HIDDEN WHAT YOU TAKE INTO YOUR BODY WILL ALSO COME OUT, SO YOU DON’T WANT TO STUFFING YOUR FACE, A MODEST DIET THAT KEEPS YOU GOING IS ALL YOU NEED.

The comments so far have made me think, a lot of the stuff I have currently is dry food; good because it’s light and takes up less space : downside also needs cooking and takes lots more water, something I have limited space for at the moment so a possible re-think is on the cards.
Mind how you go

Took the words out of my mouth SHADOW COMPANY.
UNDERTAKER, nothing wrong with dried food, it is indeed very light and provides nutrition. BOTH types of food a valuable and it would be wrong of me to ignore this type of food. I carry this in my BOB too. It really is just being prepared as well as you are able for the threats and situations presented. I have 3 (remember the laws of 3) buried stashes of both canned and dry food and water in my locality, local woods mostly. It’s worth putting a can opener in each box though! Somthing worth considering but don’t record the locations alone on a GPS device as an EMP will wipe these out and then you’re screwed!
I’ve put locations of the other two boxes in each box. Worth the risk.
Whatever you prepare, be it dried or canned, you are many steps ahead of the sheep around you who will just wait for something to be done for them…
Cold dried food is better than no food at all.
Priority is aways water, water, water!
Great conversation all.
Leigh

I AGREE WATER IS TOP PRIORITY, I AM IN THE PROCESS OF BUYING A STASH OF 400 X 2LTR BOTTLES OF WATER, THE COST IS FAIR AT ONLY 68.00.(17P A 2LTR BOTTLE) & AT MY RATE OF CONSUMPTION THAT WILL LAST ME WELL OVER A YEAR, BUT IT’S THE SPACE IT TAKES UP,THAT AMOUNT OF WATER IS 2 AVERAGE PALLETS 4FT HIGH, & I GOTTA BURY THOSE BAD BOYS, THATS LIKE A HOLE 6’X 4’X 5′ OR I COULD BURY THEM IN SMALLER STASHES – WHICH I MAY WELL DO NOW I THINK ABOUT IT, IT’S DRAGGING IT AROUND TOO.
I ALSO HAVE A COUPLE OF LIFESAVER WATER BOTTLES, EACH WILL FILTER/PURIFY 4000 LTRS OF WATER, THE INFO ON IT IS PERDY IMPRESSIVE, GOING TO GO OUT FOR A WEEK & LET YOU KNOW HOW IT PERFORMS IN THE REAL WORLD.
TOUCHING ON WHAT UNDERTAKER SAID, THERE IS GOOD DRINKABLE WATER IN CANS OF PROCESSED PEAS, BOILED POTATOES, HOTDOGS(THOUGH A LIL SALTY IN THE DOGS IT CAN BE USED IN SOUPS ETC)TINNED CARROTS.
I’M GOING BY THE BASICS RANGE AT SAINSBURYS, I DON’T KNOW ABOUT OTHER BRANDS, BUT I ASSUME THERE PERDY MUCH THE SAME.
I CAN WAIT FOR THE DAY WHEN THEY PERFECT THE PROCESS OF DEHYDRATING WATER, IT WILL MAKE OUR LABOURS A HELL OF ALOT EASIER – IMAGINE, A 50 GALLON DRUM IN AN EGG CUP!!.(LAUGH, I NEARLY DID)

I have had a Lifesaver Bottle 6000UF for several years, my plastic filter had an unpleasant amount of glycerine preservative coating it, which I could still taste after many flushes, so I dismantled the bottle and thoroughly flush the glycerine off the filter with clean running water, and the filtered water tasted much better! The plastic pump base was/is not as tough as I think it should be, a small bit of mine broke off when my bottle dropped off a table on to a hard floor, but it still usable, so I’m not about to cough up £30+ to replace it! The filter does work, but it needs several fills a day for just drinking and cooking water, let alone water to clean with!

The Lifesaver bottle is best if you must be mobile on foot or on 2 wheels, and don’t need to wash much, if you need to be mobile on 4 wheels or can cope with cold showers, best get a Lifesaver JerryCan; for home or a base location with a table, the Berkey gravity filter units provides better quality water, for longer, with much less effort.

I recently got a Big Berkey Steel gravity filter (2 Filter stick version) which sits by the edge of a kitchen counter, it is as simple to use as a manual fill canteen water boiler.

I’ve practiced and found that body washing requires a lot more water than drinking, especially if you have hard water, and hot enough water helps shower gel clean dirt and grease off much faster than colder water e.g. 4 Litres of boiling water (2 Big Kettles full) in 5 to 6 Litres of cold water, in a “9” Litre “Really Useful” Box. I also have a big steel kitchen grade whistle kettle for when I can’t use an electric kettle e.g. power cuts; been there!

THANX FOR THAT URBANE, I’LL BARE THAT IN MINE.
I MUST ADMIT I AM TENDING TO USE BOTTLED WATER AT THE MOMENT, I’VE BEEN PUTTING OFF MY TEST OF THE LIFESAVER (L.S.B.) BOTTLE BECAUSE OF ILL HEALTH.
BUT THIS INFO IS VERY USEFUL – ALSO A NOTE ABOUT THE L.S.B. THE LIL BLUE SPONGE THEY CHARGE THE EARTH FOR, IN SAINBURY’S THERE IS A 2 PK OF YELLOW BABY SPONGES FOR 75P, THEY FIT SNUGGLY INTO THE BOTTLE BASE, YOU CAN EITHER CUT THEM ROUND & CREATE 2 FROM 1, OR LEAVE INTACT & HAVE 2 THICKER ONES, EITHER WAY THEY WILL FULFIL THE FUNCTION OF PREFILTERING THE WATER B4 YOU PUT IT THROUGH THE BOTTLE, WHICH WILL HAVE THE KNOCK ON EFFECT OF PROLONGING THE LIFE OF YOUR BOTTLE FILTER & CHARCOALS IN THE TOP.
I’M SURE THEY WILL BE JUST AS GOOD AS THERE BLUE ONES BUT COST A FRACTION OF THE PRICE, I WOULD GET A FEW, AS YOU JUST DON’T KNOW HOW DIRTY THE WATER WILL BE THAT WILL NEED 2B FILTERED OR SOAKED UP & SQUEEZED INTO THE BOTTLE.
FARE YOU WELL FELLOW PREPPER’S.